A breakfast meeting with Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle started the 2016 celebration of the recent World Interfaith Harmony Week held at the Arzobispado de Manila. The event was attended by diplomats, religious leaders and members of Uniharmony Partners Manila.
Elder Ian S. Ardern, Philippines area president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS); Elder Raul Villanueva, LDS Area 70 head; and Haidi Fajardo, LDS public affairs department head, attended and represented the Church in the meeting. Cardinal Tagle delivered his address on the significance of the Interfaith Harmony Week, with this year’s theme, “Love, Mercy and Compassion as Wellsprings of Peace and Hope.”
“If we want peace, there should be love, mercy and justice and, most important, we act upon these things. We can do this by developing friendship through small gestures of kindness, such as a smile, a hug, a wave,” he further added.
Tagle hopes to strengthen friendships with other faiths and promote the importance of interfaith relations.
Fr. Carlos Reyes, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, opened the program with his message on the need to spread the message of peace and harmony among cultures, given that the Philippines is rich with diverse cultures and faiths.
The meeting was favored with musical presentations from the Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Temple Choir and five young international singers from the Pacific Dialogue Foundation Inc.
The intimate atmosphere of the event gave time for faith leaders to interact, renew friendships and discuss topics of mutual concern.
Uniharmony Partners Manila, the organizer of the World Interfaith Harmony Week Celebration, aims to spread the message of interfaith harmony, dialogue and cooperation as key elements toward nation building
Ardern echoed the words of LDS President Thomas S. Monson when he said, “I would encourage members of the Church, wherever they may be, to show kindness and respect for all people everywhere. The world, in which we live, is filled with diversity. We can and should demonstrate respect toward those whose beliefs differ from ours.”
The LDS accepts all sincere believers as equals in the pursuit of faith and in the great work of serving humanity.
1 comment
Thanks for sharing this, but I think this is just 90% copied from the mormon newsroom website. Why won’t you write your own?. https://www.mormonnewsroom.ph/article/faith-leaders-diplomats-converge-for-a-breakfast-meeting-with-cardinal-tagle